APAC study: Understanding what drives consultants
This article is written by Seleen McKinnies, Regional Vice President, APAC. She leads the APAC region with a goal of empowering current and future customers to leverage their investment in the Salesforce platform. For this blog, she highlights the recent study focused on what’s motivating (and distracting) consultants in the APAC region.
To be successful in today’s world of consulting and professional services, you have to know how to optimally utilise two non-compressible assets: the time and knowledge of your resources.
As experts in services transformation, we deeply understand the key challenges of optimally allocating resources and the importance of getting this right. To aid you in effectively leading your teams, and to precisely quantify the trends we’ve been observing, we recently conducted a survey across Australia and Singapore. This survey focused on resource allocation, exploring what motivates experts and keeps them satisfied in their jobs (so you can retain top talent), identifying the pitfalls of misallocated resources, and uncovering strategies to accelerate business results through optimal resource allocation.
Below is my summary analysis of the results, which you can dive deeper into in our report: What motivates consultants to stay put and stay focused? It’s about time.
Now let’s delve into the data.
Understanding What Drives Consultants
The survey revealed that what makes consultants happiest at their job is the opportunity to solve interesting problems. A striking 37% of respondents cited using their skills to tackle tough challenges as their primary source of job satisfaction. This was closely followed by the desire to constantly add to their skill set.
These findings underline the importance of aligning consultants with projects that not only match their current expertise but also offer growth opportunities.
Take the survey
The Pitfalls of Misallocation
However, it’s not just about keeping consultants busy; it’s about keeping them engaged in the right way.
66% of respondents indicated that underutilisation, unfair allocation, or missing out on desirable projects were significant sources of dissatisfaction – which even beats compensation as a factor.
It’s clear that if organisations lack visibility into their consultants’ skills, interests, and aspirations, they risk falling into the trap of suboptimal resource allocation.
What Consultants Want: Clarity and Opportunity
When it comes to the most valued characteristics of their role, a clear career path and developmental opportunities topped the list, with 34% of respondents prioritising these aspects. This is closely followed by a healthy culture and values alignment, and the flexibility of work location.
Consultants are seeking a culture where they can grow, and this growth is directly linked to how they are allocated to projects.
Improving Business Results through Effective Resource Allocation
Nearly half of survey respondents (44%) believe that improving resource allocation is key to accelerating business results. They recognise that better resource allocation processes can increase revenue and create more equitable and efficient work environments.
Certinia’s Approach: Strategic and Efficient Resource Allocation
At Certinia, we believe in providing a strategic approach to resource allocation. This involves:
- Assigning consultants to projects that align with their current skills and future growth
- Ensuring the allocation process is fair, efficient, and optimised
- Being ready and able to capitalise on new opportunities as they arise
As a reminder, you can delve deeper into our survey results by downloading the full report: What motivates consultants to stay put and stay focused? It’s about time.
Then, sign up for our complimentary Resourcing Management Challenge. This personalised consultation will offer you a unique perspective on your organisation’s resource allocation strategies, how they align with industry norms, and how they can be improved.
Our passion is to help you make sure that your most valuable assets – your people – are utilised in the most effective and rewarding manner. With the right resource allocation strategy in place, you too can increase your revenue and hit your goals – and keep the loyalty of your top consultants.
